All posts tagged Diamond District

Police guard the scene Tuesday of a jewelry heist on 47th Street in Manhattan.

John Taggart for The Wall Street Journal

The one city-block Diamond District in Midtown Manhattan is the smallest and one of the most heavily guarded areas of New York City, highlighting the brashness, and relative rarity, of Tuesday’s armed jewelry heist. Read More »

Work was underway Wednesday at the site of Extell’s 34-story International Gem Tower in Midtown.

Back in December, Extell Development vowed it would move forward with its long-planned International Gem Tower, taking the unusual step of starting construction before securing a construction loan. Now, after months of inactivity at the site, it seems the real-estate firm is staying true to its word.

Workers could be seen Wednesday erecting steel to form the 34-story tower’s base, the first step that kicks off so-called vertical construction. That makes the property on 47th Street –in the Diamond District between Fifth and Sixth Avenues — one of just two sites in the city home to large office building construction. The other is the World Trade Center, where two towers are going up.

Raizy Haas, senior vice president at Extell, said the tower, which is aimed at the diamond industry, should be ready for delivery by the end of 2012. Read More »

There’s no meat left to pack in the Meatpacking District. The garmentos who gave the Garment District its name have become scarce. Big financial firms quit the Financial District years ago. While many of Manhattan’s industry-namesake areas have changed, the Diamond District — so far, at least — is forever. But the high-security mindset of 21st century hasn’t completely bypassed the diamond dealers of Midtown.

Jason Andrew for the Wall Street Journal

A new video-surveillance system hands above a diamond exchange on 47th Street in Manhattan.

An umbrella organization for businesses in the district recently activated an advanced video-surveillance system to monitor the block. The project, which had been in the works for 15 years, was finally made possible with a $75,000 counter-terrorism grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The businesses chipped in an extra $25,000.

“We consider ourselves a target for terrorism because of the economic value and the perception that this is a Jewish industry,” explained Michale Grumet, executive director of the Diamond District Business Improvement District.

The area is home 25 jewelry exchanges that hold more than 2,000 independent vendors, according to Grumet. With sales receipts totaling $6 billion each year, the Diamond District is the second largest business improvement district in the world.

Grumet’s group won a grant for six high-tech cameras from the Urban Areas Security Initiative, which provides more than $800 million each year in support of terrorism-prevention programs. The Diamond District became the first BID to ever receive this grant — but it was also the first to ever apply. Read More »